Moving house: Attachment, the social ecological context and the process of transition and grief

Life and childhood can be viewed from a number of perspectives, but personally I like to see each child as part of a whole system within which they interact, learn, develop, adapt and exist. This is known as the Social Ecological Model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), where the individual is centred and surrounded by those closest to them (family and friends), those who they interact with sometimes (settings, schools, gp etc), and those whose decisions affect their lives (government, society). The diagram below shows how this works:

A huge part of a child's wellbeing is for this model to remain stable; and this is where attachment becomes vitally important. Bowlby (1907-1990) came up with the theory that having secure attachments to others is part of human survival, and that children need at least one secure attachment in order to feel safe and to enable the child to explore their environment, knowing there is someone to turn to when they are in need. When a child's housing is stable, it enables these relationships to remain stable, giving the child a chance to develop good, strong attachments to their caregivers and to developmentally thrive. Personally, I also think that children develop attachments to environments and possessions, as experience tells me that children struggle when their environment changes (and even more so for some children with autistic spectrum condition).

Therefore, the issue of moving house is actually quite a big thing. Not only is it important that a child feels safe with their attachment figure, but that they also feel safe when in a familiar context. Moving house can disrupt this attachment and cause the child to react in a number of ways. Coley and Kull (2016) designed a study to see how children's cognitive abilities were affected by moving house; their study actually found that although cognitive abilities were slightly affected, the main issues were emotional and behavioural. They suggested that having to establish new routines, new support systems within the immediate community and changes in family dynamics as a result of moving could have a negative impact on children's emotions, specifically because of the disruption to the child's attachments.

As humans, we go through a process of transition that we as adults can see and understand quite clearly if we look carefully at the following graph:

However, children who are too young to express their emotions fully, with limited vocabulary and an inability to understand the situation they are going through will take a lot longer to get through this process than those of us who have experience and understand what is happening. Now have a look at this image showing the cycle of grief, and see the similarities:

So, in effect, when a child moves house, not only are they going to struggle to maintain their strong attachments, but will also be going through a process of grieving for the previous environment. This is not to say the process is long and arduous for every child, as for some who are articulate and creative thinkers will whizz through this so quickly you barely notice they've been affected at all! But it is worth thinking about how to approach a transition such as this, in order to support the child through this process.

Linking this to my previous post about housing statistics, how renting is on the rise and those renting tend to move house more frequently than homeowners, this becomes a very important issue. During my study I will be carefully observing the attachments children have with their caregivers and I hope to gain a better understanding of what we (parents and practitioners) can actually do to avoid children dragging through the transition process, or remaining at the low point for too long. If they are likely to move house more frequently, they need to learn their own coping mechanisms which is the development of resilience - a subject for another day!

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Republished in 2006).

Coley, R. L., & Kull, M. (2016). Cumulative, Timing-Specific, and Interactive Models of Residential Mobility and Children’s Cognitive and Psychosocial Skills. Child Development, 87(4), 1204–1220. http://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12535

Housing statistics in the UK

Today I have been looking at the English Housing Survey 2014-15 dataset, showing the percentages of families who rent privately, socially and also first time buyers. The analysis shows a comparison to the previous two waves of data collected in 2010-11 and 2004-5.

The interesting thing I have found and its implications for my research is this; renting (either socially or privately) is on the increase, in comparison to those buying homes, which are decreasing. The most important statistic about this is that the number of years families remain in their properties is far fewer in social rental properties than in owned properties, and even fewer years in privately rented properties. Here's a quote from the Social Rented Sector Report:

'In 2014-15, 39% of all social renters had lived at their current property for less than five years, very similar to the proportion in 1994-95 (40%). Social renters had lived at their current address for an average of 11.4 years, in comparison with 4.0 years for private renters and 17.5 years for owner occupiers.' (DCLG, 2015)

So if renting is on the increase, and renting means moving house more frequently, what does this mean for the UK's children? To me, it means this research is all the more important.

Reviewing the literature

So this is starting at the very beginning. I need to unpick the keywords to search for literature. This small mindmap is just an example of how I have begun this process! Yesterday I attended a session at the university library where we were shown the most effective ways of searching for and finding the literature we need to review. I'm quite lucky that my search terms are so specific, because it narrows down the literature to that which is relevant to my study. To write an effective literature review, you need to find ALL of the articles/books etc that relate to your subject, including previously submitted PhD theses! After a search of the theses library I am happy to say that my topic has not been studied before for a PhD so I already feel like I'm gazing into a gap in the literature - although previous journal articles show studies into this topic, they do not directly consult with young children, so this is my specific niche.

There are so many more things I need to look at other than these particular terms, because at the end of my review I will be making a case for my study. This means I need to also find ethnographic case studies involving children and how much richer the data can be using this methodology. Every aspect of my study needs to be backed up by previous literature, so my search will take time and lots of effort. I hope to share my findings throughout this process so if you are interested in this topic, please do follow it.

My story and the child's story

Today has been full of lightbulb moments – well, not really moments of clarity but questions arising in my mind about the reality of what I am studying. Mainly, the idea that the majority of research about childhood is either quantitative and carried out via parent surveys, or qualitative and based in the child’s childcare setting. I’ve been searching for specific literature around the theme of young children’s transitions, and all that’s coming up is the transition from preschool to school, and from reception to key stage one. This makes me ask the question – where is the research about other transitions? About things that happen at home? Where are the qualitative, in depth case studies about how children feel and behave at home with their parents? So, I wonder if research appears to be easier to carry out within settings, because the practitioners are aware of the ethics surrounding research (or at least they should!) and that it is easier to access children within settings than through their families? To me, this disempowers the parental role in the child’s life, and while practitioners in settings do play an important role with young children, it is the families who will be the main support for the child when they move house. This should steer my own research towards seeing children in their homes, but if I’m aiming to create case studies then I could see them in a variety of places to gather a bigger picture of who they are and what their life is like.

Maybe I haven’t looked far enough yet, or used the correct key words. Maybe I’m making an assumption. To be honest I would like to think that I’m wrong, and the answers are out there to be found, because as a parent this offends me! Approaching this study with a background of being both a parent and a practitioner, I can see how important it is to involve all of these people; after all, the child’s world is based on their social ecology and there’s no getting away from that. And my role as a researcher is also based on my social ecology and my experiences, which there is also no getting away from. I have to keep this in mind when I do finally get out there in the field, because my findings will be the child’s world and my own intertwined to create my version of their story. I just hope I can do it justice and enable their voice to be heard.

Developing an ontological awareness

A few weeks ago I felt mildly confident that I knew what I was doing in terms of research and how I intend to carry my project out. However, in the time since, I have felt my mind expanding into new and unknown territory. It is equally exciting and terrifying! The main thing being that all of my research so far has been based on what other people have said. I have ensured that every time I make a claim, I back it up with something I have read – and only things I have read. This level of study gives me permission to go beyond this; to question the very nature of research itself and gain a critical and sceptic mind with regard to reviewing literature and drawing conclusions.

Who has the authority to say exactly what a research project should look like? Who knows what is correct and what is wrong? Is there a solid distinction between the two? Each research project is unique to the researcher; I am beginning to see that actually my project will be the story of my relationships with the children involved, and my own interpretation of their interactions with me and with the resources I provide. There is no wrong answer; I will look at my data and determine a particular way of thinking about it, while someone else could look at the same data and draw different conclusions; it depends on the perspective from which it is being observed.

So for this reason, I have to very carefully select the previous data that I draw on to set up my project. Weak studies will not give me good enough reason to proceed; I need a sound basis for following this lead, and my literature review will need to give that argument, that reasoning as to why my project is so important. Why do young children need supporting when they move house? Who determines that they are struggling through transitions? How is a struggle defined? Do struggles such as this promote resilience, and should I not even get involved but allow nature to take its course and help to strengthen the children? All of these questions are necessary to ask if I want to get down to the ontological awareness of the situation.

Master of Research: Reflective Blog 1

I’ve had access to the system for three days now, and am starting to get my head around things. This unit requires me to reflect very early on about what it is I am hoping to do and how I am hoping to carry it out. I have attended one lecture which was an introduction to the ‘ologies’, and this helped me to further understand the meaning of ontology and epistemology, and how these in turn relate to methodology. When I think about it, my previous preparations for research were quite limited. I can already see that although the most recent module has set me up ready for research, it was not nearly as detailed as I’d like it to be in terms of really unpacking the nitty gritty of how I perceive children; how I perceive the issue of moving house and how best I think I can gather information to support this transition. The only way of doing this is going to be by reading; research papers, methodology books, going to lectures – listening and learning more about just how children communicate, how I can learn from them and how this will help me to adapt my methodology. I need to remember that it’s not set in stone, and doesn’t need to be – that’s prescriptive and goes against everything I stand for in early years!

My supervisor mentioned that I’ll probably wish to turn this into a bit of a longitudinal study, as meeting with a child just once doesn’t really constitute high quality data, whereas a follow up visit enriches the data greatly. I agree on this, and previously would not have considered it as an option. But they’re looking at getting me a second supervisor so I can be a little more research intensive. To this end, I will have a look at case study based papers and ethnographic research to see what I can garner in terms of effective methods. I know I’ve bought all these resources and I’m sure they will be useful, but I don’t want to use them just for the sake of being stubborn because I thought it was a good idea! The children involved in the study might not like the idea, and I have to go with their thoughts and feelings because that’s what it’s all about.

It was also suggested that I create ‘vignettes’ – stories to give my research a personal context. I will do this, because the young man at preschool was my starting point and I’ve not looked back since that moment. Hopefully the passion behind my specific research project will shine through because of the context.

I have to admit that I’m finding it hard to work out how to separate the subject specialism from the research preparation and development because to me, the two go hand in hand. I can’t really reflect on one without reflecting on the other, but I suppose this is a skill that I will have to learn. Future research projects are not all going to be informed by my musings on the context of this particular subject; however, they will benefit from my musings on how to actually carry out research and do literature reviews.

All I can say that I truly know now is that I have much to learn. I want to soak it up like a sponge and I’m so ready for this!

How the EYFS links to the National Curriculum

Over the past few weeks I have been observing within a KS1 classroom and seeing how intense the teaching is in comparison to the largely play-based teaching in preschool. In an effort to understand this better, I have downloaded the National Curriculum so I can see what the expectations are of children’s learning in Year 1 and beyond. The following table is a brief overview of my understanding of how the different areas of learning in the EYFS link to the subjects contained within the National Curriculum, and their similarities and differences.

Early Years Foundation Stage	National Curriculum KS1+
Personal, social and emotional development This is considered an area of high importance. The Key Person approach contributes to the children’s wellbeing and staff are expected to support children’s emotional development as a matter of priority. By the end of the EYFS children are expected to be self-confident and self-aware, manage their feelings and behaviour in an appropriate way and be able to make relationships with other children and adults.	There is no specific subject to support children’s PSED. The curriculum begins with a broad statement explaining the need for schools to deliver all the subjects within an environment which supports children’s personal, social and emotional needs so it is overarching and should be embedded in every lesson that teachers deliver – within the ethos of the school and the values and beliefs held by the teachers.
Physical development This is also a prime area. Early years settings should always have opportunities for physical play both indoors and outdoors. By the end of the EYFS children are expected to be able to coordinate themselves with gross and fine motor skills. They are expected to be able to manage their own personal hygiene needs and understand the need for a healthy diet.	This becomes physical education and is the final subject to be included on the subject list. Children are expected to develop their strength, agility and coordination, dance and participate both competitively and cooperatively. The KS1 programme of study is less than half an A4 page for the entire two years, although the statements of expectation are wide ranging.
Communication and language The final prime area. Staff need to ensure that they communicate with children in developmentally appropriate ways and encourage children’s communication, both with adults and their peers. Children are expected to have developed their ability to listen and respond to instructions, pay attention when being spoken to, understand what is being said to them and speak in order to communicate their own thoughts and ideas by the end of the EYFS.	The subject of English should be the obvious choice to continue this prime area. However, childrens’ spoken word and ability to listen is almost ignored within this large subject section. There is one sentence: ‘Teachers should ensure that their teaching develops pupils’ oral vocabulary as well as their ability to understand and use a variety of grammatical structures, giving particular support to pupils whose oral language skills are insufficiently developed.’ (p.20) This assumes that children are already able to communicate well with adults and peers.
Literacy A specific area with less priority, although the expectations are high. For literacy, children need to learn how to read – demonstrating a good phonic knowledge and the ability to decode words by the end of the EYFS. They also need to learn how to write these words and create sentences. In order for children to attain the early learning goals, they will need a strong systematic synthetic phonics teaching programme in Reception to get them to the level they need to be to start in Year 1.	English moves literacy on in leaps and bounds. There are six pages in the programme of study, making it the most important subject of the curriculum. Children are expected to develop their reading – phonic knowledge and comprehension, and writing – transcription, composition, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. There are copious pages of details which are a statutory requirement, with so much for teachers to cram in to just one year of teaching – with spellings included. It seems that the ability to read and write becomes the most important focus as it enables the learning in all of the other subjects.
Mathematics Another specific area, given less priority, although again the expectations are high. Children are expected by the end of the EYFS to learn how to count and do simple number problems. They also need to know mathematical language referring to shape, space and measures.	Mathematics is a subject of high importance, comprising five pages of the Year 1 programme of study. Children are expected to learn about number – place value, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions, measurement and geometry – both properties of shapes and position/direction. This leads directly on from the learning in the EYFS, although children will need that foundational knowledge of number to effectively engage in the programme of study for KS1.
Understanding the World A specific area. Children are expected to be able to talk about the lives of others, be interested in and explore the world around them and show an interest in utilising technology by the end of the EYFS.	This is split into a number of subjects: science, geography, history and computing. The Year 1 programme of study for science sets out the expectation for children to learn about animals (including humans), everyday materials and seasonal changes. They need to do this within the KS1 statutory requirement to work scientifically. Geography and history correspond well with ‘topic’ work, and for computing children need to learn how to use programs effectively to retrieve and display information.
Expressive arts and design A specific area. This area is more about processes than products, so children are expected to have had the opportunity to explore a variety of creative resources to design, create and use their imaginations. This is far more about the environment and appropriate resourcing by the staff than the children having specific outcomes.	This splits into three subjects: art and design, design and technology and music. Between the three different subjects, the programmes of study amount to about two pages for KS1. Children are expected to have access to creative materials, tools to manipulate them and knowledge of how to use them. They are also expected to gain a musical knowledge, listen to music, sing, play instruments and begin composing their own music.

The information contained in the table above I find incredibly interesting. I can see that the National Curriculum has set the standard for the attainment within the EYFS, so although we may fight against the unrealistic and inappropriate early learning goals, really it is the National Curriculum which needs to shift the learning expectations so that the Early Years can be relieved of the burden of inappropriate teaching.

In light of this realisation, I feel that I need to ensure I do not become trapped in this system which is pushing formal teaching further and further down the age ranges. I know what is appropriate for the children in my care at preschool, and this term while I’ve been doing my maths assessments (using an appropriate play based approach to assessing), I’ve noticed that there are quite a lot of children going to school in September who cannot recite numbers 1-10 and do not count with 1-1 correspondence. Because children have to be able to do this (up to 20) by the end of Reception, this makes me feel like I should be doing more at preschool to give them less to work for in their Reception year, for which they will quite clearly come home very tired every day from the sheer amount of information being put into their brains! But I need to be careful that this doesn’t happen, because responding to the pressure from higher up by challenging children too far will damage their ability or motivation to want to learn at all.

With regards to Literacy/English, the jump during the Reception year from being non-readers to being readers is huge. I understand that at this age children do have a large capacity to learn and they are able, in most cases, to pick things up and apply their knowledge well. However, the pressure placed on the teachers to ensure that by the time children go into Year 1 they are already able to decode words and write their own means that children need to make that transition in just one year.

Reception is a key year group in this whole scenario, it almost needs its own column in between the EYFS and the National Curriculum because that is the year when children need to start making that transition to more formal learning. But do they?! This is all according to the British Government. The more I learn about the education system and reflect on it, the more I think that children are getting a raw deal in all of this.

There are plenty of movements regarding early education and changing the expectations placed on children, some of whom I will list here. If you are interested and would like further information, please click on the links.

http://www.savechildhood.net/

http://www.toomuchtoosoon.org/

http://www.betterwithoutbaseline.org.uk/

http://www.upstart.scot/